When it comes to creating strong, durable parts, we've talked verbatim about how different infill materials can create a variety of different part parameters tailored specifically to your individual needs. Recently though, with the help of our trusty Markforged FX10, we decided to conduct an experiment to figure out what impact different kinds of base materials might have to a part when it comes to flexibility, durability and overall strength.
Summarizing the testing we just did; we printed out a three different materials with the exact same infill strategy. The CFR infill percentage does change based on the material it is being placed in. The other comment in the video we were just reading the dial. We needed to take that reading X 2.5 for the actual strength in newtons.
As you can see from the data below there's one material that wins in 3 different categories. If you're just looking for the cost value it’s Onyx w/CFR that wins. If you're looking for the strongest Onyx ESD w/CFR is the strongest. If you have a situation where your part will need to work in a hot environment. Vega w/CFR wins.
Additive Manufacturing with Markforged and CFR gives your engineering department options. There are still more options to test on this part with Markforged. We can print PLA and Ultem 9085. The Ultem 9085 can be reinforced with the CFR process. We could also test solid infill if cost and weight were not a concern.

Written by The EXBuild Team
The EXBuild Team of application engineers combined their depth of experience and industry knowledge to bring you the contents of this article.